Just ahead of the evening news, reports broke of an Iranian hack targeting the Trump campaign, with hacked materials then being forwarded to the Biden (and later) Harris campaigns. This intrusion was reported by CBS and NBC as an afterthought tacked on to other coverage, and ABC omitted the story altogether.

Here’s how CBS reported the Iranian hack:

NORAH O’DONNELL: It's good to have you here, too, because there’s some breaking news just coming in and that is about Iran regarding their efforts to try and undermine the U.S. election. What do we know about what Iran is doing? 

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, Norah, U.S. intelligence just disclosed that this summer there was a hacking campaign by Iranian actors where they stole information from the Trump campaign and sent it to members of the Biden campaign. This is similar to that hack and leak operation we saw in August, where information was stolen that was damaging to the Trump campaign and given to journalists. In both cases, we don't have evidence that damaging information was used, but this is a loud warning by the intelligence community that as we get closer to the presidential election, we will see more actions by foreign actors to influence the outcome.

O’DONNELL: There is a lot of foreign influence in these elections. We will be on guard and watching it and reporting on it. Margaret Brennan, thank you so much.

This brief report was an addendum to CBS’s coverage of the ongoing rash of exploding Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies. Margaret Brennan’s studio sit-in, cited here, came after Imtiaz Tyab’s full report from Beirut. And, to be clear, this oh-by-the-way is the most extensive of the reports filed across the network dial.

Speaking of dial, as in dialing it in, this was NBC’s offering:

RYAN NOBLES: And late tonight, more evidence that Iran's efforts to interfere in the election continue. The FBI says they've discovered that Iran attempted to send stolen digital materials from the Trump campaign to the Biden campaign. But there’s no evidence the Biden campaign used any of it. 

This came on the back end of a full report on overseas actors creating fake news sites with AI. Scant, for sure. But these brief reports were a lot more than was offered on ABC World News Tonight, which was absolutely nothing. The most Harris-friendly network couldn’t be bothered to cover a story that might run the risk of casting Donald Trump, or at least his campaign, in a sympathetic light.

Once upon a time, network newscasts were interested in foreign election interference. Based on how this Iranian hack was covered, reasonable people might conclude that network interest in such stories is directly proportional to the single letter between parentheses displayed after the hacked candidate’s name.

Click “expand” to view the full transcripts of the aforementioned reports as aired on their respective network newscasts on Tuesday, September 18th, 2024:

CBS EVENING NEWS

9/18/24

6:36 PM

NORAH O’DONNELL: For more, let's bring in Face the Nation moderator and CBS News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Margaret Brennan. I know, Margaret, you’ve been working the phone talking with sources. So how much did the U.S. know about how this operation was carried out?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, Norah, my sources told me that the U.S. was given a brief heads up about 20 minutes before yesterday's attack against Hezbollah militants, but just the idea was- something was about to happen. The covert operation was not shared in detail in advance. But we do know that the U.S. is assessing at this point, war is not inevitable. The Biden administration still trying to broker both a cease-fire in Gaza and a deal between Hezbollah and Lebanon. Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel.

O’DONNELL: It's good to have you here, too, because there’s some breaking news just coming in and that is about Iran regarding their efforts to try and undermine the U.S. election. What do we know about what Iran is doing? 

BRENNAN: Well, Norah, U.S. intelligence just disclosed that this summer there was a hacking campaign by Iranian actors where they stole information from the Trump campaign and sent it to members of the Biden campaign. This is similar to that hack and leak operation we saw in August, where information was stolen that was damaging to the Trump campaign and given to journalists. In both cases, we don't have evidence that damaging information was used, but this is a loud warning by the intelligence community that as we get closer to the presidential election, we will see more actions by foreign actors to influence the outcome.

O’DONNELL: There is a lot of foreign influence in these elections. We will be on guard and watching it and reporting on it. Margaret Brennan, thank you so much.

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS

9/18/24

6:45 PM

LESTER HOLT: Just in, America's intelligence agencies revealing Iran hackers sent the Biden campaign materials stolen from Trump campaign emails. It comes as top tech company officials were grilled about Iran and other countries' efforts to undermine the election on their platforms. Here's Ryan Nobles.

RYAN NOBLES: Tonight, the Senate Intelligence Committee warning the overseas efforts to interfere with the 2024 election is already under way. From Russia, Iran, China, and others.

MARK WARNER: Other nation states who figured out that it's easy to spread misinformation and disinformation and try to interfere in our elections.

NOBLES: Senators say overseas actors are using artificial intelligence to create web pages that mimic traditional news sites. Pointing to one example, falsely claiming there were three potential shooters in the assassination attempt on former president Trump in Pennsylvania. The main goal of these false posts, senators warn, is not to push for a particular candidate but to sow dissension and raise doubt in the American political system. And they say the tech companies need to do more to stop it.

MARCO RUBIO: You don't need to have a big, expensive operation to pursue some of this. I think we should anticipate that in the years to come and it's happening already.

NOBLES: The tech platforms argue they've made great strides in detecting false posts. Sometimes with the help of AI.

BRAD SMITH: Just this morning, we saw a Russian group put online an AI-enhanced video putting into Vice President Harris' words at a rally words she never spoke.

NOBLES: That post was taken down. And late tonight, more evidence that Iran's efforts to interfere in the election continue. The FBI says they've discovered that Iran attempted to send stolen digital materials from the Trump campaign to the Biden campaign. But there’s no evidence the Biden campaign used any of it. Lester?

HOLT: OK, Ryan, thank you.